Scientists are searching for the source of chemical contamination after a study found evidence of intersex fish in the basins of Pennsylvania’s major rivers, including the Delaware. The intersex fish were also found in the Susquehanna and Ohio river basins. The Susquehanna is the most contaminated of the three, while the Delaware is second-most.

Per the study, conducted by the United States Geological Survey and published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, smallmouth bass and white sucker with intersex characteristics were found in all three rivers. It’s a sign of exposure to reproductive endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

If you ever need to know the difference between the people who live in Northern Liberties and the people who live in Pennsport, please refer to this story: When a parent in Pennsport saw a group of “between 100 and 150″ teens drinking on one of the piers south of the Walmart in Pennsport, he didn’t go to NBC 10. No, his story ended up on PlanPhilly, where Kellie Patrick Gates filed a decidedly un-local news-like report. And look how reasonable people in South Philly are!

“These kids aren’t doing anything that you or I didn’t do, or anybody else,” said Pennsport Civic Association President Jim Moylan. But, he said, they are doing it in a much more dangerous area than dark areas beneath I-95. And if someone got hurt, they are “thousands of yards away from civilization.”

This is about as nice as you can be when tattling on teenagers for, essentially, drinking in the woods.

NBC 10’s Dan Stamm reports there is a dead whale floating in the Delaware River, and it’s been there for at least a few days. It was last spotted in the river in South Philly Tuesday morning. Quick, head to the waterfront to take pictures! Or, ew, don’t.

A new partnership may soon begin construction on Waterside, a planned riverfront development in lower Bucks County on the former site of the Elf Atochem chemical plant. The first phase will consist of 176 neo-traditional townhomes and twin and detached homes, with 25 percent of the land preserved for a park and trails. Per a township ordinance, the development will offer riverfront access to the public.

The Mercedes House in New York, an apartment building anchored by a car dealership, offers Piazza-like amenities such as outdoor movie screenings. Image via mercedeshouseny.com

Waterfront Square residents may not have completely grasped the details, but just about everyone in attendance at the Jan. 27 meeting of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) Zoning Committee found a lot to like about an innovative mixed-use project being put forth by auto dealer Gene DiSimone, developer Michael Mattioni and ISA Studio Architects.

The proposal, which currently takes the form of an eight-story, 100-foot-tall building at the southwest corner of Delaware and Fairmount avenues, combines a cafe, apartments and an auto showroom.

A massive, one-mile-long ice jam near Trenton is clogging up the Delaware River, meaning communities along the river should watch out for flash flooding. (Coast Guard ice-breakers are currently breaking ice to try to prevent this.)

Tonight the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation hosts a public meeting at Festival Pier (601 N. Columbus Blvd.) to reveal preliminary proposals and renderings for an improved Penn’s Landing, which actually couldn’t be unimproved, if you think about it.

To be discussed:

· A cap over I-95 and Columbus Boulevard between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street to allow for the creation of network of park spaces from Front Street to the river’s edge
· Renewed public spaces ringing the Penn’s Landing Marina
· A new bridge crossing Columbus Boulevard at South Street.
· Conceptual site plans for development on Penn’s Landing at the Market Street site (between Columbus Boulevard and the Delaware River and Market Street and Chestnut Street) and around the Marina (between Walnut Street and South Street and Columbus Boulevard and the Delaware River).

Today is a good one for Philadelphia’s waterfront. The William Penn Foundation has given $5 million to the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation to aid with the Master Plan for the Central Delaware. From the DRWC press release:

The funds are intended to support projects that facilitate public access to the waterfront, improve connections between neighboring communities and the river, and facilitate further public and private investment and natural resource protection.

What have you been doing for the last eight years? Whatever it is, it’s probably not as impressive as what Swarthmore alumnus Jonah Eaton has been doing with his time. He’s been building a boat. By hand. But now that the boat is done, he’s having problems actually getting it, you know, into the water. Read more »